Kenyan Government Seeks to Control Use of Banned Pesticides on Coffee

The government is looking to control the use of banned pesticides on coffee by farmers. This is currently being done by training farmers and inspecting agrochemical distribution centres to ensure the banned crop protection material is not being retailed to unsuspecting farmers. This came as a result of Japan flagging local exports due to tests done and the use of non-recommended pesticides in the produce. The Japanese said samples taken from Kenyan coffee have been found to have Chlorpyrifos, an active ingredient found in insecticides, which is not recommended for use in coffee. The authorities say they detected 0.06 parts per million in the coffee that was sampled, which was above the required minimum of 0.05 percent.